August 17, 2000 — Only cool kids wear retainers

Today was, I hope, the final day of toil within the pits of downtown Ottawa. And it was only a half-day, so it wasn't too bad.

As far as work goes, I had a quick meeting in the morning, cleared up a few work-related items that I'm no longer going to be having a part in as of September, and left at 11:00AM for my orthodontist appointment, with no intention of returning to work.

At the orthodontist, I had to wait forever and the nurse (or the equivalent thereof at an orthodontist) had me convinced that I'd be wearing my retainer all the time for at least six months. Now, the roof of my mouth is abnormally high to the point that the mold didn't even reach it, so there is a large gap between the retainer and the roof of my mouth; plus, the retainer is quite thick. So basically, when I'm wearing it, the space for my tongue is about half of what it normally is, which causes me to drool a lot and talk like I've a lollipop in my mouth. In summary, I was quite terrified by the prospect of my having to wear it all the time for at least six months (I add six months to all their estimates and am seldom off by much, so this would realistically take about a year). I tried to calm myself by reading "A Prayer for Owen Meany" (I'm almost done, I swear) while waiting for the orthodontist to come by to discuss this, but it didn't work, and he took about twenty minutes to see me. It all worked out in the end, though, since he said the nurse-type person was wrong and I'd only have to wear it at night. Phew.

I went with Will and Alice for lunch at Nickel's. Bad service and mediocre food ensued.

I had plenty of time left during the afternoon, so I ended up going to Place d'Orleans to see if that new skate store was any good. I ended up getting a new pair of shorts, but they only had them in size 30, which will stop fitting if this gaining-ten-pounds thing comes through in university. I'll consider this my motivation to stay in shape. And to avoid end-of-season sales, thus allowing me to find things in my a baggier size from now on.

Nothing else really happened today.

However: the theme of my day has for some reason been people theorizing that this site is all about self-pity and my trying to get people to feel sorry for me. So I may as well try to clarify.

1. Talk of my being antisocial is not a desperate attempt I'm making to acquire friends. I haven't really trusted people in a long time for an assortment of reasons (which form another, much longer, story), and I've been too exhausted from school and work to make much of an effort to change this. Maybe in Toronto.
2. I'm not complaining about part one; if I say I'm not going to a party, it's not because I want to be asked again, it's because I wouldn't really enjoy it. I can deal with small groups of people, but anything that can be classified as "so-and-so's party" is probably not going to work out.
3. Despite the fact that I hate work, I definitely don't hate my life. (I'll admit to using the line "I hate my life" quite liberally, but I don't mean to be doing it in a serious tone of voice, in the event this has been interpreted wrong. This is more a real-life than an anti-greg issue.) I can't wait to be working on the Bran Van 3000 site, and I genuinely look forward to university after that. Also, I'm not saying that I can't wait to leave for university because I want people to say how much they'll miss me -- I'm saying it because I can't wait to get to Toronto and into something new. A lot of bad things have happened in Ottawa, and I feel I have to act a certain way around a lot of people from school (my friends excepted), and I really don't like the personality I feel trapped in around those people. So being in Toronto will make me feel much better.

Anyways. Just wanted to clear that up. It's funny, people go between telling me that I think that I'm better than everyone else to telling me that I'm wallowing in self-pity, when I don't really think either are true. I hope not anyways.